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the penthouse was too big. it always had been — large, lavish, excessive — but zeus didn't notice as much when hera was there. but she wasn't, and she hadn't been for weeks. so the place felt oversized in an uncomfortable, smothering way. not that the king of the gods would ever admit such a thing, but that didn't stop him from feeling it.
maybe it was the amount of times she'd left in anger, left to leave him, that set his nerves on edge once a certain threshold of time passed without her return. it didn't matter if he knew the reason she was gone, that she was off working, all that registered in his mind was her absence. loneliness — what a horribly human thing to experience. ridiculous, absurd. yet there he was, unaffected by the spell others had experienced that made them mortal for a time. he was as immortal and godly as ever, the world was his... and yet. it felt like she was gone, not simply due to her absence but the numerous unanswered texts and calls. being focused on work was one thing, but not even bothering to let him know she was busy and would talk to him later was another. for weeks. and maybe he was paranoid, but so what if he was? didn't he have reason enough to be? the silence was deafening. the quiet of the penthouse, the absence of his wife, her silence in response to his outreach. zeus remembered a time when he found peace in stillness, would find it a welcome respite compared to the rest of his life, but he felt none of that now. it was much too oppressive to be any kind of calming. new york hit him with a barrage of noise any time he stepped out the door, the cacophony a welcome contrast as he lost himself in the city for a spell, letting it sweep him away with the distractions it offered. nothing could distract fully from the fact that any notification he received on his phone was from someone other than hera, but at least he could keep from being home, alone, with nothing but an empty house to remind him of his solitude. |